Into the Dark
by itsnotwierditsart
Summary: The Rosewood girls are on edge because A has been suspiciously silent. When they find out about Paige's violent past with Alison it sets off a chain of events none of them expected. Eventual, Paily.
1. Chapter 1

The TV continued to play in the background, forgotten by the four girls sitting on the floor. The school week had been particularly stressful for all of them so they had planned a sleep over. It was a Saturday and they were all seated in the living room, waiting for the pizza they had ordered to arrive. Emily and Hanna were both seated on the couch while Aria and Spencer sat Indian style on the floor. They had decided to have the sleep over at Hanna's since her mom was going to be away for the weekend. It gave them a chance to discuss A without having to worry about someone overhearing them. None of them had received any texts from A lately and they knew it was only a matter of time until something bad happened.

"What do you think A is planning?" Hanna asked the others while nervously tapping her foot on the floor. Hanna had always been the person in the group who worried the most. She was always looking over her shoulder, waiting for something bad to happen. She hid her anxiety well from everyone one around her but, her three friends always knew when she was upset. They knew her better than she knew herself and could see right through her facade. But, she felt a lot safer ever since Caleb found out about A. When he found out about the four girl's dangerous stalker he vowed to do whatever he could to help protect them. So, whenever her and Caleb were together she felt like she could let her guard down. Even if it was just for a little while.

"I don't know. It's not like A to just leave us alone for no reason." Spencer stated and picked at her purple nail polish. She had been trying to come up with a reason for A's silence all week but couldn't come up with anything. None of them had done anything out of the ordinary for A to be plotting against them. The last text that had been sent, three weeks ago, was just some snarky comment to Aria about her relationship with Mr. Fitz. Spencer did not like the feeling of being helpless. She always liked to be in control of her situation, no matter what. Even if the situation included a demented person trying to ruin her and her friend's lives. Lately, Spencer felt like she wasn't in control of anything in her life and that scared her the most. Toby had run off to some job in Philly for a few weeks. Her grades were dropping and it felt impossible to bring them back up. A could be plotting her death right now and she wouldn't even know it. She just didn't know what to do anymore.

"Spence, I'm sure everything is fine. There's no reason for us to get all worked up over nothing." Emily said, not really believing her own words of advice. All three of them looked to her with knowing expressions on their faces. They all knew that A was plotting something whether they wanted to except it or not. Emily hung her head, looking away from the three other girl's stares. She wanted to believe, more than anything, that A had finally got bored and was done tormenting them. But, she knew that was just wishful thinking. A had messed up so many things in Emily's life that she didn't know what else A could destroy. Lately, swimming felt like her only relief, something even A couldn't ruin for her. Yesterday at practice her coach had told her she was becoming the best on the team. She didn't even care that Paige McCullers had glared at her for the rest of the day.

"We all know that there is something bad happening that we don't know about yet. We shouldn't be walking around acting like everyone will be ok, cause they won't be. You should know that more than anyone, Em." Spencer harshly whispered, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Tears brimmed at the corners of Emily's eyes and she gave Spencer a heated look. Aria and Hanna stayed quiet, waiting to see what Emily was going to do. The two girls just continued to glare at each other as tension filled the room. Finally, Emily snapped out of the staring contest first and clenched her fist at her side.

"Don't bring Maya into this, she..." Emily was cut off when the doorbell rang, signaling the pizza's arrival. Before Emily could finish what she was saying Aria stood up and clapped her hands together.

"I'll get the pizza, I'm starved." She said while making her way out of the living room and to the front door. Hanna looked between Spencer and Emily. They both had their arms crossed and were staring in opposite directions, avoiding eye contact. She sighed and decided to just sit in silence while waiting for Aria to get back. This always happened, every time A decided to play mind games with them. They would just end up snapping at each other instead of sticking together as a team. If they didn't start to work together they may never figure out who A is. When Aria walked back in with the box of pizza she rolled her eyes at the three girls still sitting in silence. She put the square box down on the table and straightened back up, crossing her arms.

"We're never gonna get any closer to figuring out what A is up to if you guys keep this up. I know that we're all a little on edge but we have to stick together." Aria pointed out as Hanna nodded her head in agreement. Spencer had the decency to look sorry as she glanced back to Emily.

"I didn't mean to bring Maya into it like that. I just don't want any of us to let our guard down and get hurt." Spencer sighed when all Emily did was nod and look back at the ground. Aria sat down on the couch next to Emily, leaving just Spencer on the floor. She wrapped her arm around Emily who looked like she was holding back tears. After a few seconds of silence Emily finally looked back up and smiled slightly at Spencer. Emily then began to giggle and all three girls wore surprised expressions.

"What are you giggling about?" Hanna exclaimed while raising her eyebrows. She had thought that Emily was going to be quiet for the rest of the night, drowning herself in thoughts of Maya. Aria and Spencer just continued to sit there with confused expressions on their faces. Waiting for Emily to explain her sudden amusement.

"Well, I was thinking over what you said about not letting our guard down. But, it made me remember that time you zoned out in the middle of your field hockey game. The ball hit you right in the forehead." Emily said beginning to laugh again at the memory. Spencer rolled her eyes at Emily but couldn't fight back the smirk on her face.

"Oh my god, I remember that day! They had to drag you off the field because you were stumbling all over the place!" Hanna yelled, smiling, which made Spencer blush and chuckle a little. Spencer knew her friends would never let that moment be forgotten the second it happened. All she remembered was daydreaming about going home to take a nap. The next thing she knew she was wacked in the head with a ball and falling onto her butt. She tried to stand up quickly but it just made her head spin more. After stumbleing all over the field her team mates finally dragged her into the locker rooms. She eventually recovered fully from the injury, but never from the embarressment.

"I'm still upset over the fact that I was grounded and missed that game." Aria said as she continued to laugh. Spencer didn't really care that they were laughing at her expense. She was just happy that Emily was smiling and not angry with her anymore. She knew that Emily blamned herself for what happened with Maya so it was always a touchy subject. Even though Maya has been out of Emily's life for quit sometime now she knew that the swimmer still felt guilty. None of what happened was Emily's fault, she had no control over who A was going to target next. But, that didn't stop Emily from apoligiesing to Maya constantly or always offering to push her wheelchair everywhere. When Maya recovered she decided it would be best to end the relationship and moved away from Rosewood. Emily had taken it roughly. She refused to leave her room for school and had to be reminded to eat for three weeks straight. Eventually, Pam planned an intervention with everyone and they managed to snap her out of it. It now has been about two months since Maya left and Emily seemed to be doing a lot better. But, all three girls knew that Emily would never believe what happened that night was her not her fault. She would always blame herself.

While the rest of them recovered from laughing Hanna was reaching for the pizza box. She opened it and that seemed to grab the other girls' attention. As the box was opened the smell of pizza was mixed into the air. Aria was the first to reach in and grabbed the chessiest peice she could find. As they all grabbed a slice none of them bothered to go get plates from the kitchen. It was a comfortable silence as they all enjoyed thier pizza, lost in thier own thoughts.

"How's swimming going, Em?" Aria asked after she finished off her first slice. They all looked to Emily who was reaching over to the box on the table. She reached in, grabbing a slice and then leaned back into the couch.

"Really good, coach said that we're deffinitly gonna be hard to beat this year. I just hope that Paige McCullers doesn't try to kill me before the season even starts." Emily rolled her eyes, thoughts of the other girl filling her head. Paige was always trying to intimidate her. It never work though, Emily refused to back down against the competitive girl. Hanna let out a snort next to Emily, remembering all the times Emily had come over after swim practice complaining about the other girl.

"She was on my field hockey team last year and we ended up naming a penalty after her. She was crazy, competitive,violent, and that was just with her own team mates. Most of that season was spent with me thanking god that I wasn't playing against her." Spencer said while shaking her head at the memories. "I'm just glad she didn't come back for a second season, the whole team is, too. I guess she just gave up on it and decided to stick with swimming."

Emily seemed to think over Spencer's words as she ate her second slice of pizza. Paige acted the same exact way towards her and the other swimmers on the team. She knew that Paige was a bit of a handful but Emily always saw something else inside the girl. Paige wasn't very liked because of the way she acted so her team memebers usually ignored her attempts at friendship. Whenever Paige would try and be friendly with someone on the team they would usually just ignore her. Every time Paige got rejected by someone her eyes would just get this look of complete sadness. You wouldn't even catch it if you weren't looking but Emily always noticed.

"From what I've heard about her she is a very mysterious person. No one really knows anything about her, except that she's a little crazy. Some girl in my math class told me that she saw Paige talking to a wall before." Hanna mumbled, the pizza she had eaten making her feel tired. The other three girls rolled their eyes at Hanna's comment. They all knew that the blond girl loved to gossip and would believe almost any rumor she was told.

"Would this happen to be the same girl that told you I was going to fight Aria after school?" Spencer asked grabbing a from a pile of napkins that came with the pizza. "There was a swarm of people at my locker by the end of eighth period. They were all asking me why I was going to beat up my tiny friend." Aria laughed at the memory. She remembered walking out of fifth period and everyone asking her why team 'Sparia' was fighting.

"Shut up Spencer, you're just mad because I..." Before Hanna could finish her, probably childish, statement Emily had slapped her hand over the other girl's mouth.

"Hanna don't start fighting with Spencer. It never ends well with you two." Emily said sternly. Spencer didn't even bother retaliating because she knew Emily was right. Her and Hanna could fight about practically anything and it usually could go on for hours. Hanna seemed to agree, too, because she removed Emily's hand from her mouth and grumbled out a 'sorry'. Before anyone else could say anything Spencer gasped.

"Wow, did Hanna actually use the word sorry?" She said while acting like she was shocked. Hanna let out a sarcastic laugh and picked up the pillow next to her. The other three girls were to busy laughing to notice her getting ready to throw it. She pushed her arm back as far as she could and flung the pillow, hitting Spencer right in the face. Hanna broke out into loud laughter as Spencer fell backwards in surprise. She quickly recovered and picked up the pillow trying to aim it at the blond. The pillow jerked to the side and ended up hitting Emily instead.

"Oh, you are so going to be sorry you started this war!" Emily yelled, smiling, and trying to find more pillows to throw. The other three girls began to look for cover knowing the living room was about to turn into a battle ground. The rest of the night was spent by them just trying to be normal teenagers for once. But, they all had the same thought in the back of their minds, nagging at them. A was up to something and they knew that it was only a matter of time until the texts started again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty little Liars.**

**Ok, so I really don't know exactly were this story is gonna go, yet. I have a few different ideas. But, it really picks up in the next chapter, I promise. Enjoy.**

Paige ran into school on Monday morning just as the warning bell for home room rang. Her alarm clock hadn't gone off and she had to rush to get there. Luckily, she didn't have swim practice this morning or coach would have been angry with her for missing it. When she reached her locker their were only a few other people left roaming the halls. She quickly put in her combination, cursing under her breathe when she turned it the wrong way and had to start all over again. The lock finally opened and Paige threw open the locker door while shrugging off her school bag. After, putting her it on the locker's hook she began searching for her books for first period. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a sealed envelope resting next to her things. The last time there was a letter left in her locker like this it ended horribly. Her thoughts were filled with memories of Alison. The blond girl had took it upon herself to torture Paige throughout their sophomore year of high school. Paige tried to hold her ground and fight back but it was no use, the other girl was just to powerful. She knew just the right things to say to make Paige's skin crawl and bring her down. Somehow, Alison had figured out the Paige liked Emily a little too much.

Alison wrote a fake letter to Paige, pretending to be Emily, and slipped it into her locker. When Paige opened her locker that day she was surprised to see an envelope fall out. She opened it without much thought and was shocked at what she read. At the bottom it gave directions for Paige to write back and put it behind a sign in town. Paige knew that she shouldn't have believed someone as amazing as Emily would actually want someone like her. But, she wrote a letter back anyway and biked to the spot she was suppose to leave it. As she was putting the letter behind the sign Alison walked up and snatched it out of her hands. She tried to grab it back but Alison was faster than her and left with the letter. She thought the girl was going to give the letter to Emily and out her to everyone, but it never happened. Alison walked up to her the next day at school and told her to stay away from Emily or she would tell everyone her secret. Paige immediately agreed and avoided the dark haired swimmer the best she could. That summer Alison went missing until they eventually found her body, dug it up in the backyard.

Paige jumped suddenly when she was brought out of her thoughts by the bell ringing. She quickly shook her head and grabbed the rest of the books she needed. After hesitating for a few seconds she picked up the envelope and slipped it into her math book. Paige slammed her locker shut and took off down the hallway to her class room. As she rounded the corner she felt her body slam into something. Her books went flying everywhere and she stumbled backwards. When she finally found her footing she looked up to see Mona standing in front of her with an unreadable expression. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was tapping her foot impatiently. Paige opened and closed her mouth a few times, not really knowing what to say to her.

"Well, are you going to apologies or just continue to stare at me?" Mona finally said harshly. Paige would never admit it out loud but she was a little bit scared of Mona. She saw a lot of Alison in the other girl and that put her on edge. She knew Mona was just another girl trying to climb the social ladder of high school. But, she could never shake the feeling that Mona was more devious than she let on to be. Paige looked around at her books on the ground before glancing back up to the dark haired girl.

"Sorry, I wasn't watching were I was going." Paige mumbled out quickly as she kneeled down and gathered up her books. She opened her math book a little to make sure the envelope hadn't fallen out. When she saw that it was still there she stood back up and began walking. As she passed by Mona the girl stuck her arm out, stopping her.

"Next time you better watch where you're going, Pigskin." Mona spat out and dropped her arm back to her side. Paige turned around sharply and pushed her books into Mona, slamming her into the lockers.

"Don't call me that." Paige whispered out harshly as Mona tried to push Paige off of her. They stared at each other for a while until Paige finally backed up and let Mona go. Mona looked a little scared at Paige's expression as she put space between them. Paige stormed past her and continued her way down the hall knowing she was really late now. When she reached her class room door she hesitated to walk in and looked back to Mona. The girl was still standing in the same spot staring back at her, a wicked smile on her face. Before Paige could open the door fully she heard Mona yelling down the hallway.

"You better watch your back, McCullers." Mona yelled and continued on to wherever she was walking to. Paige just shook her head and walked into her home room. She sat down at her desk as the teacher gave her a disproving look. She let out a quiet 'sorry', still upset over her confrontation with Mona. Paige knew that Mona was all talk and was just angry because Hanna had abandoned her. Everyone knew around school that you didn't want to cross Mona's path anymore. Ever since Alison had gotten killed she was trying to take her place as 'queen bee'. Mona was one of the few people that knew about her and Alison's violent past together. She was in the hallway the day Alison had first called her 'pigskin'. Mona knew that they fought with each other but she didn't know the whole story. Paige always wondered if the letter she had written would someday be found by someone. She never did find out what Alison had done with it, she hoped she would never find out. It's not that she had written anything bad in the note it's just that when she began to write she couldn't stop. She had reveled her feelings and poured her heart out to, who she thought, was Emily at the time. When Alison had taken the letter from her that day she suddenly regretted everything she had written.

Thinking of the letter had reminded her of the envelope she still had inside her math book. She slowly opened up her book to see the white envelope with nothing written on it. Anxiety washed over her as she picked it up and glanced around the room. No one was paying attention to her and seemed to be either sleeping or doing homework they hadn't done at home. Her hands began to shake as she slowly opened the top of it. She knew that she shouldn't be getting worked over a random envelope that was left in her locker. Anyone could have put it in there. But with the past she had with things like this she really didn't know what to expect. Even though she was buried in the ground, Paige still felt like she was under Alison's control sometimes. As she opened up the envelope the rest of the way she quickly glanced at the clock to see how much time she had until the bell rang. When she noticed that there was only four minutes left, she put the note back into her text book and closed it. The bell rang a few seconds later and she took off for her first class of the day.

_When the end of the day finally rolled around and Paige was completely exhausted. She had forgotten that she had a history test today and knew she failed it. Then, in science her test tube broke and she had to clean up the mess which made her late for math. She was happy that the day was over and was ready to just head home. There was no practice today because coach wanted them to rest up for their first meet of the season on Wednesday. But, her dad would probably make her practice in the backyard pool when he found out there was no practice anyway. She made her way to her locker, unlocking it and quickly collected the books she needed. Before throwing her math book into her school bag she took out the note and held it instead. When she was done gathering everything she closed her locker and made her way out of the school. She made her way to her bike and began peddling home, envelope still in her hand. As she made her way down the street she began to think about Emily, who entered her thoughts often. The last time she had seen the girl was on Friday at their latest swim practice. The coach had told her she was becoming the best on the team and Emily couldn't contain her smile.

Paige knew that the other girl loved to swim because of how graceful she was in the water. When she swam it was like she wasn't even doing it for a competition. But, she would always be setting new records and beating her times. For the rest of the day Paige couldn't help but glare at Emily every chance she got. It wasn't that she was mad at the girl or anything, she just didn't understand how everything just came so easy for her. Emily was out of the closet and she wasn't afraid to be who she wanted to be. Paige always wondered what it would be like to finally not have to hide behind this facade she had created. What it would be like to admit her feelings towards Emily and actually have them returned. But she knew that it could never be like that and she had learned that the hard way. Alison had broken her down so much and showed her that she wasn't really worthy of love. She had screwed up so many things in her life that she felt like a total mess. It's like she couldn't do anything right and for Emily everything just came naturally. Emily was kind, smart, beautiful, and Paige knew she could never have her. She always could still hear Alison's voice in the back of her mind, telling her to stay away from Emily.

As she neared her house she noticed that her parents' cars weren't in the driveway. They usually weren't there when she got home from school. Paige peddled onto her front lawn and climbed off of the bike. She then carelessly left the bike on the grass as she headed for her front door. She was anxious to finally read whatever was inside the letter that she still clutched in her hand. The door opened easily after unlocking it and she walked inside, shutting it behind her. After dropping her bag by the front door she went over to the couch and sat down. She stared at the already opened envelope for a few seconds before pulling the paper out of it. There was only one page and it was folded so it would fit into the envelope. Paige quickly unfolded it and began to read the typed contents of it.

_This isn't the first time you found a letter in your locker is it, Paige? The last time this happened you got your poor little heart broken. Well, if you don't do what I ask, more things than just your heart will get broken this time. At school tomorrow steal Hanna Marin's phone from her and then put it in your locker. Leave it in there for the rest of the day and don't take it out. Don't get caught, Pigskin. We wouldn't want Emily finding out about your little school girl crush on her. _

_-A xoxo_

Paige stared at the letter in disbelief . There was so many questions running through her head and she had no answers to any of them. Who is A? Why do they want her to take Hanna's phone? How do they know she likes Emily? After reading over the letter several more times she dropped it on the ground. Her hands felt shaky as she ran them through her hair. She had no idea what she was going to do. The person that wrote this had to be someone that knew about her past with Alison. Paige thought for a second and realized that Mona had called her pigskin today. She had been close to Paige's locker when they bumped into each other in the hallway today. Paige knew Mona had motive to write the note, the person wanted Hanna's phone to be taken. Mona and Hanna had been best friends before the blond began to hang out with Emily, Spencer, and Aria instead. It was no secret that the dark haired girl had some what of a grudge against the four other girls. But, why did she want the phone to be left in the locker. It's not like she had a key to open it and get it out later. Then again, it might not be Mona, the letter was signed with an A and not an M. Maybe someone else had found the note she wrote Emily when Alison was still around. Even if Mona was behind this she knew the other girl would follow through with her threats. Either way, she had to make a decision before school ended tomorrow.

If she stole Hanna's phone there's a chance this person would be satisfied and leave her alone. But, if she didn't steal the phone this person might out her to the whole school, including Emily. Which meant that, eventually, her dad would find out that his perfect little girl was gay. The only class she had with Hanna was history but she sat all the way at the other side of the room. So, she knew it would be near impossible to get the phone from the other girl. If she got caught she could end up getting expelled from school. Her dad would find out about that, too. She figured that her dad would be more upset if he found out she was gay than if she got expelled from school. Stealing the phone would be the hardest part, but if she could pull it off she would be safe from whoever this A person was. Suddenly, she was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. She knew that it was her mom because she always got home from work first. When she realized she had been sitting in the living room staring at nothing, she stood up. The letter still laid in the same spot as Paige bent down to quickly pick it up. After sticking the paper back in the envelope she put it into her back pocket so it wasn't noticeable. Her mom walked in soon after and she pretended to be heading towards the kitchen for something.

"Hey mom." Paige said as her mom walked into the kitchen where she was getting a glass out. She was surprised when her daughter spoke up, not expecting her to be in the kitchen.

"How was school today, dear?" Mrs. McCullers asked while putting her brief case down on the table. Paige just shrugged her shoulders as she finished filling her glass with orange juice. She didn't feel like talking to her mom right now, she had to many other things on her mind. Also, she knew that any conversation she had with her parents would just end up with them talking about swimming. She walked over to the bottom of the steps trying to make a quick exit to her room. Before walking up them, she could hear her mom yelling something about getting her homework done. As she jogged up the steps her thoughts were filled with the envelope in her back pocket.

Tomorrow she was going to have to steal from Hanna Marin, one of Emily's best friends.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

**Hey guys, thanks to everyone who is following this story or reviewed it! The next chapter will probably be up sometime later tonight.**

_Beep, Beep, Beep._ Paige awoke with a start as her alarm began to echo around her room. She groggily reached over and turned the alarm off, missing the first two times. As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes she was surprised to hear her parents talking downstairs. Usually, they were both already at work by the time she got up for school. After laying there for a few more minutes she decided it was time to get ready or she would be late. After stretching out her stiff muscles she walked over to her dresser to pick out clothes. But, her body instantly filled with dread when she noticed the envelope from yesterday sitting on top of some books. She had put it there after taking it out of her back pocket yesterday. Her mom usually did her wash for her so she moved it, worried that her mom might find it in her jeans. Eventually, she would have to rip it up and throw it away but for some reason she just couldn't bring herself to do it. That note had complete power over her, just like Alison did back when she was alive. It felt like her sophomore year all over again and she was becoming a sort of puppet. Someone was pulling her strings and she basically had no control over her actions. There was only two options, steal the phone or get outed, neither sounded very appealing. She had been up all night trying to figure out a way to get out of taking the phone. Paige was not someone to go down without a fight, even if she knows she'll lose. If she could just figure out who the person that wrote the note was, then maybe she could stop this.

But, the only person she knew that had motive to do this was Mona. The dark haired girl did seem a bit crazy but why wouldn't she just take the phone herself. It would be easier for her to just get the phone from Hanna and have it in her possession. Why would she go through all the trouble of writing a note and then having it left in a locker? The only way she would be able to get it would be if she had the locker combination, which is highly unlikely. Even if she knew the combination and managed to get the phone out, what would she do with it? There was nothing she could really do but break it or make some prank phone calls. Paige couldn't think of anything really malicious that could be done with someone else's phone. There's probably a password you needed to unlock the phone anyway, so what was the point in taking it. If Mona was just trying to torment her she could of found a different way then just telling her to take a phone. And there was no way that Mona would know about her crush on Emily unless she had found the old note somewhere. Even if she did find the note why not just tell Emily instead of making her steal things. Or, this could just be Mona's weird way of getting revenge for something. Or, it might not even be Mona behind this. Nothing was adding up and there was way to many theories to even keep track of.

Paige's head was pounding as she heard a door slam downstairs, pulling her from her thoughts. She quickly opened the top drawer and threw the envelope in there. Looking at it made her feel sick to her stomach. After picking out her clothes and getting dressed she made her way out of her room. When she entered the kitchen she was surprised to see money and a note sitting on the counter. As she walked over to it she couldn't help the shiver that ran through her. Even though she knew that it was most likely from her parents, they left without saying goodbye often. Paige picked up the note, ignoring the money that sat next to it and read the messy handwriting of her father.

_Dear Paige, _

_Me and your mom got called on an important business trip for that new client we told you about. We got the call late last night that our flight takes off early this morning. So, we didn't want to wake you. There is two hundred dollars there for you and we will be back by Thursday night. Sorry that we won't be able to make it to the first swim meet this season but I promise we'll catch the next one. Be good, do your homework, and we'll miss you._

_Love, mom and dad_

Paige rolled her eyes at the note and crumpled it up. She knew that her parents probably wouldn't make it to any of her swim meets this year. They were always going away on business or starting something with a new client. It wasn't so bad when they both worked separate jobs. But now that they sometimes ran things together she barely ever sees them. Especially, her dad. He was the most distant and she didn't have a close relationship with him at all. Sometimes, it felt like she was raising herself and didn't really even have parents. The money that was sitting on the counter was left there as Paige made her way to the front door. She put her school bag, that hadn't been touched since yesterday, on and opened the front door. Her bike was laying in the grass as she locked the door behind her. The air was chilly and there was a fog falling over Rosewood. It made Paige pull her jacket closer to herself, feeling another shiver course through her. She got on her bike and quickly began peddling her way towards school. Hanna probobly wasn't at school yet. If she was there was probably one of the others with her. The four girls were usually with each other whenever they had the chance. Paige sometimes wished that she had close friends like that. After Alison had gone missing the four girls seemed to separate from each other. Only to be brought back together when Alison's body was found a few months later.

She didn't really know much about Hanna other than the fact that she used to be best friends with Mona. Paige heard a rumor once that the blond used to shoplift but she really wasn't someone to believe gossip. Caleb was her boyfriend and to Paige they seemed happy together. Whenever she saw them around school they were always holding hands and smiling. Hanna seemed very care free, unlike Spencer. She had played field hockey with Spencer and was pretty sure the other girl hated her. They argued a lot while on the team together and it seemed like Spencer was always stressing about something. Every time she saw the girl walking through the halls she always seemed tense. Spencer was definitely the one she had to worry about the most if she got caught with Hanna's phone. Paige really didn't know anything about Aria. The short girl was usually quiet and kept to herself a lot. Then, there was Emily who filled her thoughts most of the time. Paige didn't know why she liked Emily as much as she did. Ever since she had seen the girl for the first time at swim practice she couldn't get the girl out of her mind. When all the Alison drama had started she had thought that her feelings for Emily would go away. But, they had only grown stronger over time. It hurt to see her with Maya when the two had been dating. Emily always looked so happy when they were together.

Paige remembered the day Maya had shown up to school in a wheelchair. She had heard that Maya fell down a flight of steps and broke her leg. When she saw Emily that day the girl had looked exceptionally upset and guilty. Which was strange. Maya's leg healed a while later and everything seemed to go back to normal. Paige doesn't really know what happened but Maya sort of disappeared and just left town. Emily missed a bunch of swim practices and Paige figured it was because of Maya leaving. That had been about two months ago and Paige was happy that Emily had eventually come back to swimming. She had missed her.

When she finally reached school she peddled over to the bike rack. She hooked it up and quickly made her way into school, feeling anxious. As she made her way over to her locker she tried to think of a plan. There was no way she was just going to be able to walk up to Hanna and take her phone from her. Paige knew she still had some time before home room so instead of going to her locker she began walking through the halls. Whatever she was going to do had to be done before the end of the day. Classes were to close together in time for her to try and take it in between them. There was no way she was going to be able to get it in history class with Mrs. Shwarts as their teacher. Nothing got past her and she had ears like a bat. They both had the same lunch but Paige was never in the cafeteria anyway. She usually just went and ate by the school pool and watched the water. It didn't matter though, it's not like she could just wonder up to the table and walk away with the phone. So, her only time to act was now or sometime at the end of the day after classes. She figured that Hanna probably kept her phone in whatever purse she was carrying. Which would make it easier to get to without being seen by anyone. As she made her way to the front of the school she kept a look out for Hanna or at least Caleb.

After walking for a few more minutes she stopped dead in her tracks. Aria and Hanna were standing by the front entrance, talking and laughing about something. Paige noticed the bag that was on Hanna's arm and waited to see if she would pull her phone out or not. She stood behind a wall, shielding herself from being seen by them, as she waited for any sign of a phone. The minutes ticked by as Hanna seemed to make no move for her purse and Paige began to lose hope. Just as the warning bell rang Hanna reached into her purse and pulled out a small phone. She looked like she was checking the time and then quickly slipped it back into her bag. Paige watched as the two began to make their way down the halls towards their lockers. The bag was sort of opened, enough for Paige to reach in without Hanna feeling it. Without much thought, Paige quickly took off, following behind them closely. When she saw that there wasn't many people around she walked as close as she could behind the two girls. Luckily, they were to busy talking to notice her. Paige took a deep breathe knowing there was only one chance for her to reach in and grab it. Just as they rounded the corner she stuck her hand in and just grabbed the first thing she felt. Hanna and Aria continued on, oblivious to what had just happened.

Paige stood there for a few seconds to afraid to look at whatever object she had grabbed. When she finally mustered enough courage, she slowly looked down. She gasped in surprise at the small pink phone she now had in her possession. After examining it for a minute she realized that she was gonna be late for home room if she didn't hurry. She took off down the hallway, her body still pumping with added adrenaline. Reaching her locker in record time she quickly put in the combination, glancing around to the now empty halls. After gathering her books she looked back to the phone that was sitting on top of her calculator. Paige remembered the note saying to leave the phone in her locker. She wouldn't be opening her locker again until seventh period. Would the phone be gone by then? She just didn't understand. Paige shook her head, slamming the door shut in frustration. Without glancing back she continued down the hallway with her books. She managed to reach home room right as the bell rang. As she sat down in her seat she felt her own phone vibrating in her pocket. She pulled it out and opened the text, figuring it was from one of her parents or family members.

_Didn't your mom ever teach you not to steal? Sabotage is a bitch._

_-A_

Paige felt her blood run cold as she finished reading the text. It was the same person that had written the note. What did they mean by sabotage? She felt her head start to pound again as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. Before she could even think of a plan the bell rang, signaling the beginning of first period. She stood and made her way out of the class room trying not to breakdown as she walked.

Emily sighed as she heard the bell for first period ring. She really wasn't in the mood for school today. The swim meet that was coming up tomorrow was really starting to stress her out. Her coach had said that she was doing really well for how much practice she had missed. When Maya left she couldn't even bring herself to get out of bed, there was no way she was going to be up for swimming. After missing more than a few practices she came back and felt as though she would never catch up to the other girls. But slowly as time went on her speed picked up again and it was like she had never left. So far all she had been doing was practicing and swimming for fun. Tomorrow was her first day really competing again and she didn't know what to expect. If she messed up she would end up letting her team down, coach would be disappointed in her as well. Usually, swimming would help her relax, but this time it wouldn't. There was all this stress in her life and she had no idea how to deal with it. A was still being quiet and none of the four girls had received any texts at all. There was nothing they could really do about it besides wait.

After realizing she was still sitting at her desk she quickly stood up and walked out with her books. Hanna and Aria have the same first period as her so they usually all end up walking there together. When she finally gets farther out into the hallway she is surprised to see the two girls standing there, digging through Hanna's purse. Emily quickly walks over but the other two girls don't even notice her as they continue to look inside the handbag. When she finally speaks up both Aria and Hanna's head's look up to her in surprise.

"Why are you guys digging through that?" Emily asked with her eyebrows raised. Aria pulls her hands out when the question is asked, but Hanna just ignores her and goes back to looking into the bag.

"She can't find her phone. It's was in there this morning and now it just disappeared. We've been looking through her bag since home room started, it's not in there." Aria said and started to rub her hands together, nervously. They all knew that when stuff like this happened it wasn't just a coincidence, A was probably behind this. They both stood in silence for a minute as Hanna continued to rummage through the bag. The hallways were almost empty and Emily decided that they had to go looking for it. If A was behind this maybe they could stop whatever was being planned.

"Come on guys, let's just head towards our first period. I'll call Hanna's phone and see if we can hear it ringing. Maybe, she just dropped it in the halls somewhere" Emily whispered, trying to keep the other two girls calm. Hanna reluctantly agreed and they began making their way through the halls. Emily pulled out her phone and dialed Hanna's number. The girls were silent as they tried to listen for any noises. When the call went to voice mail Emily sighed and hung up.

"Do you think A is behind this?" Hanna asked, already knowing the answer. A had been silent for to long. The girls knew that this could end badly if they didn't find Hanna's phone. A had so much control over them that they never knew what to expect when something like this happened. Whoever A was didn't hold back on trying to bring down the girls in anyway possible.

"I hope not. Who knows what A would plan if they got a hold of your phone." Aria whispered as she continued to listen for any noise of a phone. All three girls were quiet as they reached the end of the hallway. Right as they were about to round the corner and give up, Emily froze in her spot. The other two girls seemed confused by her actions until they heard the slight ringing coming from behind them. Emily was the first to snap out of her shock as she whipped around and went in search of where the noise was coming from. She moved up and down the rows of lockers, trying to pinpoint where the noise was the loudest. Before she could find the exact source the phone it stopped ringing. She turned back towards Aria and Hanna who had yet to move from where they were standing.

"Aria call Hanna's phone." Emily waited until she heard the low ringing start up again. As she moved to the left the sound grew louder and louder. When she finally found the locker that it was coming from, she waved the other girls over.

"This is it." She whispered and grabbed the lock. She looked around the hallway making sure nobody was watching them. If it was really Hanna's phone in there this person could possibly be A. Emily roughly began to pull on the lock trying to open it. It was no use though, the locker door didn't even budge.

"Em, there's no way we're getting this opened without a combination. Do you have any idea who's locker this is?" Hanna asked while trying to find something in her purse to open it with. She knew that they couldn't cut it open or whoever this person was would know they were there. Emily figured their best bet was to just let the person think that they had no idea where the phone was. So she let go of the lock and backed up to the middle of the hallway. She stared at the locker for a few minutes trying to think of anyone that was even near that locker. As she glanced above the locker her eyebrows raised. There was a banner above the lockers that had pictures of people swimming on it. It had the time and date of the swimming competition that was tomorrow. She gasped in shock when she remember exactly who's locker it was.

"Em, do you know who's it is?" Aria yelled when she heard the other girls sharp intake of breathe. Emily thought back to when she had just come out of her depression from Maya leaving. They had a new swim practice schedule and she had no idea what the times where. So she came to the one person she knew would have an extra time schedule. She came to this locker.

"Paige McCullers."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, it's really late but I just wanted to get this chapter up before I went to bed. Excuse any mistakes please, I really have no energy to go through and read the whole thing. Thanks and enjoy.**

Spencer sat in history continuing to take notes of everything the teacher said. She knew that senior year was on of the most important. Even though the year had only just begun she didn't want to start off on a bad note. College was the next step in her life and she'd be pissed if she didn't get into the school she wanted. Ever since A had entered thier lives at the beginning of junior year it was hard to focus on school. It was like they were always to busy looking over their shoulder instead of finishing math homework. Spencer didn't know if A was going to follow her to college. It would be difficult for the anonymous person keep track of all four of them if they were in different places. But, she didn't doubt for a second that A could figure something out. No matter what they did A always seemed to be one step ahead of them.

Suddenly, Spencer's phone began buzzing and she slowly put her pencil down. Usually, if this was any other situation she would just leave the text message unread. But, it was unlike her friends to text her during class if there wasn't an emergency. They all knew how stressed she was about college and didn't want to cause more by distracting her in class. She felt her heartbeat pick up as she reached down into the pocket she kept her phone in. After a quick glance to the teacher she pulled out her phone and opened the text, it was from Emily.

_SOS, girl's bathroom_

_-Emily_

Her heart drop as she finished reading the text and slowly placed the phone back into her pocket. Whenever one of them sent out SOS it usually meant that something was seriously wrong. If Emily was in the girl's bathroom, Hanna and Aria were probably there, too. Spencer looked at the time to see that there was still a half an hour left of class. Ignoring the urge to stay until the end of class she raised her hand. After about a minute the teacher noticed her and asked her what was wrong.

"Can I please use the bathroom?" She said in the sweetest voice she could. If he said no then that meant she wouldn't be able to go see Emily. One of the girls could be in danger and she'd be stuck in class. The panic began to rise in her as her teacher seemed to think about it for a second.

"Well, I guess you can, hurry back." He answered while waving his hands towards the clock. Without looking back she quickly stood up and practically ran out of the room. As she made her way through the halls she couldn't help the panic that continued to rise in her. Did this mean that A was back again? It felt like a sort of vacation with A being gone. Even though there was the stress of trying to figure out what they were planning. She knew that since A had been silent for so long that whatever it was had to be big. Her thoughts drifted back to what happened to Maya as she rounded the corner. The poor girl had been pushed down a flight of steps and had her leg broken in two places. She was in a wheelchair for a whole month and Emily walked around blaming herself. Spencer didn't think she could handle something like that happening, again.

When she finally reached the entrance to the bathroom she burst through the door. Aria and Hanna stood by the sinks looking upset. Emily, who was pacing back and forth, had the look of confusion on her face. She moved farther into the bathroom and ran her fingers shakly through her hair. Something was definitely wrong.

"What happened?" Spencer said when Emily finally stopped pacing and looked to her. She tried to gather her thoughts but it just seemed impossible. The locker had been Paige's, she just couldn't wrap her head around it. Why would Paige do this to them? Was she A? When Aria realized that the other girl was going to answer, she stepped forward.

"Hanna's phone was missing this morning so we went looking for it. We called it but we could hear anything so we gave up and started our way back to first period. When we were about to turn the corner we heard rings coming from a locker. We eventually found which locker it was coming from." Aria whispered. Spencer was quiet as she waited for Aria to continue. "We've been standing in the bathroom for the last ten minutes trying to figure out why Hanna's phone was in Paige McCullers' locker." Aria finished as Spencer let out the breathe she was holding. She tried to process the information but it was just to much to handle.

"Why would she want Hanna's phone? Do you think she's A?" Spencer asked, shaking her head. There was no explanation as to why Paige would do this to them. Spencer knew that the other girl was a little extreme, but why torment them.

"I don't get how she could be A, it just doesn't add up. I don't even think I've ever had a conversation with her before." Hanna whispered, obviously getting upset by the whole situation. Emily didn't contribute to the conversation and continued to just stare ahead. She had been on the same swim team with Paige since freshman year. She felt betrayed.

"Paige can be a little intense sometimes but is she really capable of murder? Whoever A is has to have some connection with Alison and her death. Did Paige even know who Alison was?" Spencer asked after checking the time on her phone. There was only fifteen minutes until second period started and she knew they had to get back soon. They all stood in silence trying to figure out if Paige had any connection to the blond that had been murdered. All of them knew that Alison was a vicious person, so it was hard to pinpoint all the people that had hated her. She made eniemes with practically half of the school, suspects were everywhere. Even if Paige was connected to Alison some way would that be enough to accuse her of murder? Spencer could remember a time when they had all been suspicious of Toby, too.

"Oh my God!" Hanna yelled suddenly, bringing everyone out of their thoughts. "I remember Mona mentioning something about Paige before. I didn't really think much of it at the time because Alison was a bitch to everyone. But, I think she said that Alison refured to her as 'pigskin' or something. I can't really remember." Spencer's head snapped up as she heard Hanna mention the nickname. Her memories instantly went back to the day she had seen the huge bruise on Alison's back.

"Alison mentioned that nickname before. There was a bruise on her back one day and when I ask what happened she told me she was kicked in soccer by 'pigskin'. If that's Paige then they obviously had some type of violent past with eachother." Spencer whispered, filling the others in on what she remembered. If Paige really was A then they needed to think of a plan before anything bad happened. For once they had the upper hand in the situation and Spencer knew they had to think fast. they needed to know more about Paige's past before they could draw any conclussions. If they could get Paige to open up about whatever went on between her and Alison then they might have a better idea. Did whatever Paige go through with Alison make her angry enough to kill the blonde? She knew that Emily was going to have to be the one to talk to Paige. Spencer looked over to the dark haired girl who still seemed to be in shock.

"Em, you're gonna have to talk to Paige and try to find out more. Tell her that you need to ask her something after school about the swim meet. We need to act fast before she finds out that we know about the phone" Emily looked at Spencer in disbelief even though she knew the other girl was right. When Spencer saw Emily's face she quickly continued. "I promise that we'll hide somewhere by you, we won't leave you alone with her. If she tries to do something we'll be right there to help you. You're the only one of us that has a reason to actually need to talk to her. It would look suspicious if anyone else did it." Spencer said which seemed to calm down Emily a bit.

"Alright, I'll text her in eighth period and ask her if she could meet me by the pool after class. You guys can hide in the locker rooms so she doesn't see you. I'll just tell her that I need to know something about swimming. I have her number already so that won't be a problem. Coach made everyone exchange numbers on the team at the start of the season." Emily whispered, knowing that this plan could go horribly wrong. She was finding it difficult to actually feel fearful towards Paige. The girl just seemed so sad sometimes and Emily couldn't really see her hurting someone. Paige was so focused on swimming that it didn't even seem like she would have time to single handedly ruin people's lives. Paige never failed in confusing Emily.

Before any of the other girls could reply the bell rang, startling all of them. They all walked out of the bathroom and stopped before separating to the different places they needed to be.

"We'll meet up by my locker at the end of eighth period and make sure Paige is gonna show up. We have to get to the pool before she does so you guys can hide in the locker room. I'll stand outside and wait for her to show up. When she does I'll see what information I can get out of her." Emily said and everyone nodding their heads in agreement. They all separated without another word and headed off to where ever they had to be. All four of them knew that they weren't going to be able to focus on any school work now.

It felt like forever before eighth period finally rolled around, Paige thought as she tapped her pencil nervously. She had stopped at her locker before this class to exchange her books and the phone was gone. Which meant that someone knew the combination to her locker and took the phone. The text she had received earlier was nothing compared to the feeling she got when she saw that the phone was gone. Nothing bad had happened yet, she figured that the text was just an empty threat. She had done what the person asked so why was the person still bothering her. Mona passed by her in hallway and the girl seemed perfectly calm, not even noticing Paige. If Mona wasn't even acting suspicious then she had no way of confronting the girl, there was no proof. Paige sighed and put her head down, blocking out the voice of her teacher. She felt herself starting to fall asleep but before she could drift into unconsciousness she felt a vibration. When she realized it was her phone her head shot up and she felt her mouth go dry. She quickly reached into her pocket, not even caring if the teacher took her phone. as she opened the unread text her hands began to sweat.

_Hey it's Emily Fields. I was wondering if you could meet me by the pool after school. I have a question about the swim meet tommorw._

_-Emily Fields_

Paige's eyes widened in suprise. Emily wanted to meet her by the pool after school and ask her about swimming. There's no way the other girl knew about the phone, she hadn't been caught. So, she figured that this wasn't some sort of trap. Paige knew that Spencer would probobly just confront her face to face and demand she give the phone back. Whenever Emily had a question about swimming, Paige noticed that she would always come to her first. Most of the team did, too. Her team mates would always be coming up to her in the halls asking her about practices and times. Usually, that was the only time the team actually tried to talk to her at all. Paige looked at the clock and shook her head, there was only ten minutes left. So, she pulled her phone back out and hesitently typed out a reply.

_Sure, I'll be there._

_-Paige_

After erasing the text about three times she decided to just give a simple reply. Right as she put it back in her pocket the bell rang and everyone quickly stood to leave the room. She grabbed her books and followed everyone else out into the hallway, making her way to her locker. Paige took her time putting the books she needed into her school bag. She didn't want to seem to eager and show up before Emily had even gotten there. After about ten minutes of stauling she slowly made her way over to Rosewood's pool. She knew that it was probably a bad idea to meet up with Emily instead of just going straight home. Hanna might not have even noticed that her phone was missing yet and Paige could've just gotten away with it. But her heart won over her head as she made her way into the dimly lit room. Her nostrils were hit with the strong smell of chlorine as she walked to were Emily was standing. Paige felt her breatheing catch, it usually did whenever she saw Emily, as she tried to compose herself better. Emily was smiling lightly at her and was shifting from one foot to another slightly.

"Hey, Paige." The darker haired girl said when Paige was standing infront of her. Paige couldn't resist looking Emily up and down before her eyes rested on her face. The other girl didn't seem to notice, she was staring at the water rippling in the pool. The way the dim lighting reflected off Emily's face made her even more beautiful than she already was. Paige realized after a few seconds that she'd been staring and not saying anything.

"You had a question about swimming, right?" Emily turned away from the water, making eye contact with Paige. She knew that her friends were close by hiding in the girl's locker room but she didn't feel threatened by Paige at all. It was actually the opissite, she sort of felt calmed by the other girl's pressence.

"Yea, I um just needed to know if coach wanted us there eariler than usual cause it's our first meet. I can't really remember if she mentioned it or not." Emily already knew she was going to ask that, thinking of the question in sixth period. She figured that it seemed believeable enough and Paige would probably know the answer.

"I think she mentioned that we could just show up at our regular times." Paige said while nervously playing with the strings on her hoody. Emily knew that this was her chance to bring up Hanna's cell phone missing.

"Thanks, I guess it just slipped my mind. It's been sort of stressful lately. Hanna's phone went missing today and she had me running all over looking for it." Emily stated as she tried to act as casual a she could. Paige stiffened when she heard Emily mention her blond friend's phone. Emily didn't seem to notice because she just continued talking. "We didn't find it but I'm sure that it'll turn up somewhere. She's always losing her phone actually, when Ali was still around she used to hide it from her all the time." Emily finished saying, she knew at this point that Paige might be onto her. Even though Alison has been dead for awhile now Emily still found it difficult to talk about her. She was in love with the girl when she was still alive, despite how awful she treated everyone. Nobody knew about her infatuation besides the other three girls. She had told them about it a few days after she had just come out. Paige stood still, not knowing how to reply. Did Emily know something? After a few seconds she just nodded her head and Emily looked back to the water.

"I think, if I remember correctly, that she was on your soccer team one year. Did you guys ever talk?" Emily asked when she realized Paige wasn't going to say anything at all. Paige tried to decide if she was going to tell Emily a little about her past with Alison. It's not like she had to tell Emily about the letter, she could just leave that part out. But, she didn't want Emily to start asking to many questions and get her to acidentaly say something she didn't want to say. She figured it would be best to just deny ever knowing Alison at all.

"We never really talked at all actually. She was just another person on my team, she..." Paige's sentence was cut off when she heard a loud bang echo from the locker rooms. A couple seconds later Spencer emerged, along with Hanna and Aria who seemed to be trying to hold her back.

"Don't play dumb now, Paige! We know you took Hanna's phone and we know who you really are!" Spencer yelled, still being restrained by the other two girls. Paige felt her blood run cold as she realized that this really was just a setup. How did they know she took the phone, had A told them? Was this the sabotage A was talking about? Paige didn't know what to say as Emily moved over to Spencer, too. Eventually, when Spencer calmed down enough, all three of them turned towards her. Paige put her head down, there was no way to even explain herself without having to tell the girls everything. She knew that there was no way she was going to tell Emily about her feelings for her. So she decided to just keep denying everything. It was three against one.

"I didn't steal Hanna's phone, Hastings. And what do you mean by, 'who I really am'?" Paige said trying to keep her voice as calm as she could. Spencer had a way of making her loose her temper like no one else could. Before Spencer could even open her mouth again, Emily slowly stepped forward.

"Look Paige, we already know that you took the phone. It was ringing inside your locker and all three of us heard it. Why'd you do it?" Emily whispered, moving to stand right infront of Paige. For someone that had been supposedly stalking them for over a year Paige seemed pretty inincent. Emily just could see Paige as being a killer, there was just something diffrent about her. Paige didn't answer for a few moments as she played with her hands and stared at the ground. Behind Emily, the other three girls stood still waiting for an answer out of the girl. Paige sighed when she realized that there really was no way for her to get out of this. It was obvious that A had set her up at this point, but why? The phone that was in her locker was now gone so she couldn't even return it and just apologies. After a few more minutes of silence Spencer couldn't wait any longer and moved towards Paige.

"You killed Alison, didn't you? You had a grudge against her and you murdered her. When that didn't satisfy you enough you decided to start toutrueing us. Don't try to deny it anymore, you're caught Paige!" Spencer yelled, getting angrier and angrier by the second. Paige stepped back a little suprised by the amount of hatred in Spencer's eyes. It was clear to Paige at this point the Spencer would do anthing for her friends.

"What the hell are you talking about? I didn't kill Alison, what does that have to do with me taking a stupid phone?!" Paige yelled as she moved back towards Spencer, refusing to back down. Before either of them could take a swing at each other Emily stepped in between them the best that she could.

"Alright that's enough. Guys, just take Spencer out of here. I'll talk to Paige." Emily whispered and Hanna gave her a hesitant look. "It's fine, I promise I'll yell if I need help. Just wait outside." They stood there for a few more seconds until beginning to head towards the doors. Spencer seemed to struggle against Hanna and Aria but she could break free. After realizing she wasn't going to break free she let them drag her out the doors and into the hallway. When Emily saw them finally leave the room she turned back towards an angry looking Paige.

"Answer honestly. Why'd you take Hanna's phone?" Emily whispered as Paige refused to make eye contact with her. Paige felt her blood still boiling from her confrontation with Spencer. The other girl had accused her of killing Alison and tormenting them. Why would that have anything to do with her taking a phone? Paige didn't know how to answer Emily's qeustion. A had deffiintly sabatoged her.

"Look, this may sound strange but I got a letter in my locker telling me I had to steal Hanna's phone. They said if I didn't they would..." Paige couldn't bring herself to say the words out loud. She knew that Emily was gay and wouldn't have a problem with it but Paige could barely even except it. She figured that Emily didn't have to know everything. "They said I would pay the concecences. So I took it and put it in my locker, it was gone the next time I came back." Emily stared at Paige in suprise. She didn't know if she was extremely relieved that Paige wasn't A or worried because A had Hanna's phone. Emily heard the hesitation in Paige's voice when she didn't reavel what the concecennses were. But, she decided not to push, knowing they all had secrets that they wouldn't tell.

"Alright, so did you have a past with Ali?" Emily asked and all Paige did was nod in return. They stood there for a few minutes before Emily looked back at Paige. "I think we really need to go somewhere and talk. There is a lot you have to know." Instead of waiting for Paige to reply Emily took off to the doors she knew her friends would be standing behind. Before she could push the door open she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Quickly, she took out the phone and opened the message.

_You girls are destracted way to easily. _

_-A_


	5. Chapter 5

**I am so sorry for how long it's been since I have updated. School really kicked my ass this week and it felt like I had no time to write. But, I promise I'll be able to update faster now.**

Paige continued to tap her foot as she impatiently waited for Emily. She could see the four girls standing in front of the car still arguing. Paige knew that the other three girls didn't believe whatever Emily was telling them. Spencer seemed to be the most agitated, her mouth was moving fast and she was flailing her arms around. After they had walked out of the pool everyone was surprisingly quiet, including Spencer. But as soon as Emily told Paige to wait in her car all hell broke loose. They all began telling Emily that it was a bad idea but she refused to listen. So, before Paige could even defend herself Emily gave her the keys and told her to get in the car. Not being able to deny Emily of anything she got in the car without protest.

It had been nearly ten minutes and Paige was starting to drown in her own thoughts. What the hell was going on? Paige knew that whoever had Hanna's phone was apparently more sinister than she had originally thought. When she had mentioned that the phone wasn't in her locker anymore Emily seemed to tense up. Paige still couldn't understand what the unknown person was gonna do with someone else's phone. Then, Spencer had accused her of killing Alison because she had a grudge against her. She would be the first to admit that she had hated the girl but not enough to kill her. At the time when Alison was torturing her Paige was trying not to kill herself, not Alison. Obviously, the four girls knew more about the murder of their best friend then they let on.

Paige jumped suddenly when the car door was slammed shut next to her. She looked over to see that Emily had finally gotten in to the driver's seat. As Paige glanced around trying to locate the other girls, Emily started the car. When she couldn't find them she turned her head back towards Emily who seemed pissed.

"Um Em, aren't the others coming, too?" Paige asked while Emily continued to violently turn the keys in the ignition. They had backed up and were pulling out of the parking lot when Emily finally answered.

"They're going to meet up with us later on. They don't really trust you right now and I don't want them around while I'm trying to explain things." Emily said, the agitation creeping into her voice. She knew that her friends were only trying to look out for her but she really believed that Paige isn't A. There is no way Paige would've been able to send that text Emily had received while leaving the pool. Emily felt a shiver run down her spin as she remembered the text. Did that mean that A had just used the phone being taken as a detraction from something else? Or was A just trying to mess with her head again? Emily glanced over to Paige who was staring out the window with an unreadable expression on her face. It took forever to convince her friends to let her talk to Paige alone. They eventually agreed when she told them she would call them as soon as she explained everything. She knew that Paige had to find out about A so she wasn't put in anymore danger than she already was. Emily figured it would be best to just talk to Paige alone so she wouldn't be as freaked out. She didn't think it would go as smooth if Spencer was there trying to play the bad cop act. When Emily finally reached her house she quickly pulled into the driveway and turned towards Paige.

"Come on, my mom isn't home yet." Emily whispered, trying not to startle Paige who seemed to be lost in thought. Paige heard Emily's voice and looked over to see the girl looking at her with concerned eyes. After staring at each other for a few seconds they both got out of the car and made their way into the house. Paige glanced around as Emily locked the door behind them. She smiled when she noticed the many pictures of Emily hanging on the wall. There were ones from when she was just a baby all the way up to the present. When she finally drew her eyes away from the pictures she noticed Emily was heading towards the couch. Paige followed behind her and began to feel her anxiety building. She was alone with Emily, something she never thought would ever happen. But, under the circumstances she couldn't really feel any accomplishment. Something was really wrong and she was beginning to feel powerless. Never in a million years had she ever thought she would be accused of murdering someone.

"What the hell is going on, Em?" Paige blurted out before she could stop herself. Emily had taken a seat on the couch while Paige had sat across from her on the love seat. Emily sighed trying to figure out how to explain what was going on.

"Do you remember when Maya was in that wheelchair?" Emily whispered, trying to keep her composure. Paige didn't answer and just nodded her head. "Well, we told everyone that she just tripped down the steps but she was actually pushed." When Emily finished her statement Paige was staring at her with disbelieving eyes.

"Who pushed her?" Paige asked quickly when she finally snapped out of her shock. Emily looked down to the ground, avoiding Paige's heated gaze.

"The same person that wrote you that note. Maya left town because she was scared for her safety. Whoever A is, they're dangerous and you have to be careful." Emily answered, lowering her voice the more she spoke. Paige seemed to be deep in thought, a million questions still running through her head.

"Ok, so Spencer thought I was A because I had Hanna's phone in my locker. I get that, but why did she accuse me of murdering Alison? Does A have something to do with Alison's death?" Paige asked, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle in her head together.

"Well, we think whoever A is had something to do with Alison's death. Hanna remembered something that Mona had told her after we heard her phone going off in your locker. Mona mentioned that you and Alison weren't very friendly towards each other when she was still alive. Spencer sort of just jumped to conclusions." Emily stated, still angry with Spencer for accusing Paige of murder like that. Paige seemed to lower her head at the mention of her past with Alison. When Emily realized Paige wasn't gonna speak up she raised her eyebrows. "What happened between you and Alison?" The question seemed to get Paige's attention and she sharply looked up.

"Me and Alison just didn't really get along, we fought a lot. She started to call me 'pigskin' instead of my name and I just got sick of it. So, I tried to stand up to her but it didn't really work out. It just made things worse." Paige whispered, trying to keep the hurt from her voice. She figured that she had to tell Emily something or she would just seem suspicious.

"Why 'pigskin'?" Emily asked as Paige froze in her seat. She thought back to the day in the locker room after soccer practice. The cuts on her thigh hadn't healed all the way and were still noticeable. Of course Alison had seen them and came up with the nickname.

"I don't really know. She just came up with it one day I guess." Paige said, even though she could hear the hesitation creeping into her voice. Why was it so hard for her to lie to Emily? The girl across from her raised her eyebrows slightly and sighed.

"I can tell your lying, Paige. Alison had to have a reason she was calling you that, she always had a reason. It's usually bad to keep secrets if A is around. Whatever it is, you can tell me." Emily stated, trying to get Paige to tell her more. Paige stared back at Emily debating if she should tell her or not. She figured Emily finding out about this was better than her finding out about the letter. Paige sighed and looked back down at her shoes before answering Emily.

"After soccer practice one day Alison noticed that there was cuts on my thigh. She gave me the nickname soon after." Paige whispered, as she looked at everything but Emily. She hoped that Emily would just leave it at that but of course she didn't.

"How'd they get there, Paige?" Emily quickly asked, already fearing the answer she was going to receive. Paige felt the tears start to well up in her eyes but refused to let herself cry in front of Emily.

"I did it the night before and they didn't really heal fast enough." Paige rushed out as Emily gasped across from her. Before Emily could say anything Paige continued, fearing her reaction. "I don't do it anymore, I promise." Paige whispered, still refusing to make any eye contact. Emily sat in shock and stared at the girl sitting across from her. How could Paige even think about doing something like that to herself? She sat deep in thought for a few more seconds until she finally snapped out of it.

"You did it more than once?" Emily shakily asked, feeling her throat start to close up. Paige looked back up when she heard the state of Emily's voice and was surprised at the concern that was shown on her face.

"Yeah, that was the first time I did it, though. I realized after that I had to do it on my stomach because anywhere else was just to noticeable. I didn't..." Paige was suddenly caught off guard when Emily stood up and seemed angry. Paige just stared up at her, waiting for her to say something.

"Nobody on our swim team ever noticed and we've all been swimming together for so long! How could everyone just be so oblivious that you were hurting yourself like that? How could I have been so oblivious!?" Emily yelled, her voice rising as she began to pace back and forth in frustration. Paige didn't say anything and just watched on in confusion as Emily paced in front of her. She knew that some of her team mates had noticed the scars on her stomach but they never spoke up about it. Paige figured it was better that they didn't ask questions about it anyway.

"Em, it's ok, I'm fine now. When Alison was still around she tortured me and I eventually just couldn't handle it anymore. But, now when I look back and think about it she made me a stronger person." Paige said, trying to calm the frantic girl down. Emily stopped pacing and stood in front of her. When Paige looked up she was surprised to see Emily was trying to hold back tears, but was failing.

"No, it's not ok, Paige. You obviously had nobody to turn to if you had to resort to cutting yourself. Everybody was wrong about you." Emily said, finally letting the tears fall that she was trying so hard to hold in. She couldn't believe that Paige had to go through something like that. Emily knew how cruel Alison had been to the people she disliked. Paige put her head in her hands as the tension in the room was becoming to great. She felt like she was always fucking things up. Now, Emily was upset because of her stupid actions. The room was silent and Paige figured that Emily had finally calmed down. When she glanced back up she was surprised to see Emily staring at her with an unreadable expression. Before she could say anything Emily launched herself into Paige's arms. She wrapped her arms around Paige's neck and felt her stiffen. After a few seconds Emily felt arms around her waist as Paige relaxed into her. They stayed like that until Emily pulled back and looked into Paige's eyes.

"Promise me that you won't do that to yourself again." Emily whispered, trying to keep her voice sounding strong. Paige looked away and stared at her arms around Emily's waist. Emily was holding her and it was really hard to get her thoughts in order. She knew that the only reason she was being held was because Emily felt sorry for her. But, she just couldn't bring herself to pull away.

"I promise." Paige whispered after a few seconds of silence. Emily hesitantly leaned in and lightly kissed Paige on her cheek. Paige felt her face begin to heat up as Emily separated from her and stood up.

"I'm gonna text the others and tell them to come over." Emily stated while trying to wipe the tears that were beginning to dry off her face. She felt in her back pocket for her phone and pulled it out. After texting the other three girls she sat back down next to Paige who was avoiding eye contact. Paige didn't even notice her and was lost in her own thoughts. Emily knew that she had cut herself and didn't think she was a freak like everyone else did. The girl was so kind and didn't deserve whatever this A person was doing to her. A had pushed Maya down a flight of steps which left her with a broken leg. Paige knew that Emily probably blamed herself that it happened. Someone like Emily didn't deserve bad things like this to happen to her, none of them did, even Spencer. By the way they were acting towards her when they thought she was A, Paige could tell they were terrified. Whoever this person was obviously had no problem injuring someone and that scared Paige a little. Would she be the next to get injured, just like Maya had? Or would something bad happen to Emily? Paige shook her head trying to clear her mind of all the bad thoughts. She would do anything she could to protect Emily even if it meant getting herself hurt. She wasn't gonna go down with out a fight. Paige was brought out of her thoughts when the door bell rang, signaling the arrival of the others.


End file.
